Erin Pimm Photography: Make your own silk flowers for fashion

I wanted to figure out how to accessorize some fabulous outfits I've been making recently for my couture glamour photography business over at erinpimm.com.

made by Erin @ erinpimm.com

So I started the search... DIY silk flowers...there are always crafty people out there ready to Youtube thier cottage crafts...

Here are 2 DIY flower tutorials for yuu...ENJOY!If you are interested in more DIY, glamour photography fashion ideas, follow my blog post...theres lots more to come!!

These elegant fabric flowers are very simple to make . . . and only take a few basic supplies. The finished product is delightfully lovely, and at times can look like a real flower! Every flower will turn out differently and that is part of the beauty!

If you haven’t used those tea lights in a while, now’s the time! I hope you enjoy making these as much as we do . . . below are instructions with pictures on how to make your own.

Supplies:

· Synthetic Silky Fabric
· Scissors
· Candle (preferably a tea light)

Additional supplies:

· Needle and Thread, Glue Dots or Glue Gun
· Buttons and/or Beads

Directions:

1. Cut circle patterns out of card stock.

Make the largest one’s diameter about half an inch larger than you want the diameter of the flower, as the petals will end up shrinking a bit. Create a few of these, lessening the diameter bit by bit so that the end result has smaller petals in the center and larger ones around the outside. You can also use a pattern here, which works very nice!

2. Trace around the pattern onto the silk fabric (using a pen).

You can also cut around the pattern and skip the drawing part, it just might not be as uniform . . . but with these, uniform isn’t necessary. And if it’s not uniform, it adds character. And character is good.

3. Take the scissors and cut out the circle and petals.

Cut just inside the drawn lines to make a circle out of the fabric. Carefully cut only about a third of the way into the circles to create the petals. You can do as many or few petals as you would like, or even add some variety to them. I cut five times, making five medium-sized petals. You can also round the corners of the petals, if you so desire.

4. Use the lit candle to melt and crinkle the edges.

Be very careful (please have adult supervision, this is rather dangerous), as it is very easy to get burnt. Hold the cut petals about one to two inches above the flame, making sure to keep the circle rotating so that it does not overheat and catch fire. Continue to gently melt the edges of each petal until you have gone all the way around. Do this with each layer.

5. Sew (or glue) the petal layers together.

Using a needle and thread, create a beginning knot and then sew the layers together. You can come up through the top because the center  of the top layer can be covered by a button or  bead. To finish the flower, sew (or glue) the button or bead on top.

If you would like to add extra stability to the flower, you can sew or glue a piece of felt onto the back (make sure it is large enough to give good stability, but small enough so that it won’t be seen from the top).

For a hair accessory, you can sew or glue the back of the flower to the back of a bobby pin, ponytail holder, or snap-clip.

For a broach, you can sew or glue them onto a broach pin or even a safety pin.

And the list could go on of how these flowers can add extra beauty!
What are some of your ideas?

And remember: every flower will turn out differently and that is part of the beauty!

Ribbon Flower Pin Tutorial

I thought with pretty good certainty that the last corsage I would ever pin on was at Senior Prom in High School.

But I was wrong.  A few weeks ago I visited the Quilting Cottage in American Fork, Utah.  I love the Quilting Cottage, which is not only a quaint little store, but they have a wonderful selection of fabrics.  While there, I spoke with Wendy, one of the women who works there…

She was making ribbon flower pins for an upcoming wedding.  The fabric flowers look a lot like the ones they sell at Anthropologie, but hers are a fraction of the cost.  They were so darling I would happily wear one.

Wendy was kind enough to teach me how to make these fabulous fabric flower pins.  Here’s what you need:

• 2-4 yards of wire ribbon (depending on how large and tight you want your flower) (I used one and 1/2 inch wide ribbon.)
• quilting thread or other strong thread
• small amount of felt
• hair clip or pin (or both)

1.  Pull on the wire of one side of the ribbon to ruffle.  Ruffle the entire length of your piece of ribbon.  Not all wire ribbon is the same.  Some are more fragile, so pull gently.  Leave a few inches  wire hanging out from the ends, but clip away the rest to get it out of your way.

2.  To start, fold your ribbon back on forth a few times (on the side of ribbon which you’ve just pulled the wire).  Using quilting thread run a stitch through the ribbon several times to secure.

3.  Start wrapping the ribbon around.  Secure each wrap by stitching all the way through the layers in a star pattern.

4.  Once it is large enough to be difficult to stitch through all the layers, secure by stitching to the previous layer.

5.  When you come to the end of the ribbon, fold the the corner of ribbon back inside to hide the raw edge.  Stitch into place.  Cut off any excess wire hanging out of the ends. 

6.  Cut a circle out of felt to cover the back of the flower.  I cut a second layer of felt in a wide strip and secured it with a zigzag on each side.  That way I could easily slip in onto a hair clip or a pin.

7.  Stitch the felt into place on the back of the flower using a blind stitch.

I love how this flower pin turned out.  I used 4 yards of fabric for this flower, and made it fairly dense.  It looks just like the peonies blooming in my garden right now.  And it was fast and easy… my kind of one evening project.  I’m off to make several more as gifts right now…